


Elliot can have a little bit of of my depression, as a treat.

by Iwrteficsnottragedies



Category: In Other Lands | The Turn of the Story - Sarah Rees Brennan
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, happy valentines day, heres some angst, yes i know this already partially happens in cannon already but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:14:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22727476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iwrteficsnottragedies/pseuds/Iwrteficsnottragedies
Summary: Luke finds Elliot instead of the commander.
Relationships: Elliot Schafer & Luke Sunborn, Elliot Schafer/Luke Sunborn
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	Elliot can have a little bit of of my depression, as a treat.

**Author's Note:**

> just a lil idea to help me get off my writers block

_ “Suit yourself, then,” said Luke. “You always do.” _

_ “Oh, you know me,” Elliot said savagely. “Constantly getting what I want.” _

Elliot didn’t go to the library or his room, since Serene might be in either place, and Serene would take Luke’s side. He went to the commander’s tower, right to the very top. He could see the Borderlands laid out from here, blue and green that went blurred in his vision suddenly, like a turquoise gemstone, like something he wanted to hurl away. He didn’t want magic anymore, he didn’t want any of it. 

Elliot sat down on the stone floor, put his forehead on his drawn up knees, cradled his head in his arms, and tried to breath in wet angry gulps.  _ No one wants him. No one ever did.  _

He had tried to pin his anger on her but it didn’t last long. He understood why she left. Why did everyone do it? Everyone got sick of him too easily. Hell, even he was sick of himself. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to take the back-end out. 

His crying was both ferocious and noisy. He blinked briny tears from bloodshot eyes, his thick lashes stuck together in clumps as if he'd been swimming. The tears made wet tracks down his face and dripped from his stubbled, wobbling chin. Clear watery snot streaked from his flaring nostrils down his red mottled skin to his open quivering lips. His hands open and closed, rhythmically clenching as if there could be some violent solution to his pain if only he could find it.

“Elliot…?”

“Go  _ away _ , loser.” The words sounded pathetic leaving his mouth but he was in no such state for someone to see him in. Let alone Luke with his annoyingly woke-up-this-dashing gettup. 

He wasn’t supposed to come back. He came to find Elliot and he wasn’t supposed to. He pushed him away.  _ Why was he back?  _ He shouldn’t be here.

“Are you... _ crying? _ ”

He had tried to discreetly wipe the tears on his contraband jeans, but it only proved to make a bigger mess than before. He couldn’t help but help to compare himself to a toddler on steroids. 

“No, just admiring the view. Did you know the biggest male reproductive system belongs to griffins?” 

He looked up. Luke was staring at him at him as if he had started talking trollish, and he doubted it was from what he said.  _ Had he never seen anyone cry before?  _ Elliot sighed again and laid his eyes back on his knees. He couldn’t deal with this right now. 

There were a couple footsteps followed by Luke plopping down right in front of him. “So you’re crying.”

He was tempted to say  _ yeah no shit sherlock _ but he doubted Luke would get it and there was no point on wasting valuable time on someone who couldn’t understand simple instructions like  _ go away _ . Instead, he opted for the option he barely ever resorted to: silence. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”   
  
_ No _ . “Why would I?”   
  
Luke shifted his feet. “Dad taught me not to comrade behind.”

“So you’re here on some heroic mission then?”   
  
He glances over at Elliot and he glares back through the crack between his legs. 

“Mom sent me.”   
  
The word  _ mom _ stung like a million wasp bites at once. He couldn’t help it but dig his eyes deeper until he saw stars and let out a dry hollow cry from the deepest part of his chest. 

“I’m sorry.”

He chokes. “For what? You didn’t do anything loser.” He managed to leave out the part,  _ ‘and that's the entire point.’  _

“I don’t know. That you’re sad?”

“What are you? Six? Of course I’m sad, teenage hormones and all that jazz.”

“Okay….What happened though? I was only gone an hour. Did someone hurt you? This is why you need to learn self defense-”

Elliot cut him off with a raise of his hand, ghostly in the moonlight, and wiped the tears pouring from his eyes away from his cheeks. “This has nothing to do with you nor anyone needed to be made into human guacamole. Now go away. You have no reason to be here and quite frankly, I’ll like to continue brooding in silence please.”

“Not till you tell me what happened.”   
  


Elliot cursed Luke at being so bloody noble.

“You wouldn’t understand, “ he chokes. It was true- Luke never had to worry about being wanted. He had a family, he had requited love, friends, and admires even. What did Elliot have? That only caused the tears to run faster. 

“I can try.” 

Suddenly there were hands in his hair. His first instinct was to jerk back, but the intimacy of it kept him rooted to his spot. They were hesitant to be there, but obviously Luke meant it as a soothing gesture. And  _ god _ , did it work despite his best protest. His fingertips were warm as they grazed his scalp, delicate and soothing as if that was all they had ever done. They tangled through his messy chestnut hair in a pattern unknown to him and for a moment Elliot almost forgot everything that had brought him here in the first place. He wanted it to last forever, but he knew these hands and gestures belonged to someone else. Someone that Luke could love.

“What are...What are you doing? That's weird.” 

“Umm….Seducing you into letting me help you?”

Elliot laughs pathetically, causing a couple tears to race more his no doubt blotchy red face. “Well it's not going to work.”   
  


Luke hums. “You don’t seem keen on me stopping though.”   
  
Elliot doesn’t respond. Instead, he takes in the moment to feel safe and loved, even if it was an illusion. 

Neither of them feel pressured to fill the silence that followed. It wasn’t what he would call peaceful, his mind was still a blur and his sniffling didn’t help, but it was quiet and Elliot was thankful for that. He would never admit it, but he didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t think he would be able to take the pressure on his chest otherwise.

“The healer with the red hair is my mom.”  He admits into the darkness. It's barely a whisper and Luke had to crane his ears to catch it. Saying the words out loud seemed to make it seem real. He almost checked under his shirt it faryies had sneaked it and started carving his heart out with their tiny needles.

"Your mom?" Luke repeats, like the words were forgin on his tongue. The topic had never come up in conversation. As far as Luke knew, he went home to a happy mother and father every break.

"I thought you came to the borderlands at thirteen?"

Elliot laughs, no humor found. "I did." He doesn’t lift his face to share to let the shame burning in his eyes escape. "She left when I was a baby."

He finds himself playing with his hands to distract himself. He waits, but there isn’t a response. Just faint echoes of laughter from the campfire and the crisp cold air of the night. Whatever left of his heart hardens in pain. 

The hand tangled through his hair slowly comes to a stop. He has to hold back a choke on his finger. He knew he shouldn’t have opened up to Luke. He was only here because Rachel made him. He should never had-

Suddenly, he was being pulled into a chest. Elliot’s eyes went wide. Luke wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, gently rubbing his arm. Despite the heaviness in his stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of his body pressed against his. Elliot sunk into the warmth of his side, appreciative but shocked still because of the simple gesture. His touch made the air warmer somehow.  _ Stupid Sunborns _ .

Suddenly, it stops. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. You’re mother and... I’m a idiot.” He tries to pull back, but before Elliot even has time to think he’s pulling back as well. 

“You’re not wrong there,” he mocks with no real malice. “Took you long enough to figure it out.” 

“I thought-”   
  
“Don’t hurt yourself.” He whispers then buries his head into the crook of Luke’s neck. It was kind of an awkward position considering how they were sitting, but all Elliot could think about was the warmth. 

_ And that he wasn’t being pushed away.  _

  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
